Many issues will vie for attention in the coming weeks. The Deseret News has chosen five we feel are of particular importance and concern.

Few things typify government by the people better than a citizen legislature. Utah is one of only six states led by lawmakers who serve part-time with limited salaries, meaning most of them retain full-time employment elsewhere.

How valuable is this? Read what researchers William Ruger of Texas State University and Jason Sorens of the University at Buffalo, SUNY, had to say in a paper published recently by the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix:

“An analysis of indicators of economic and personal freedom in the 50 states reveals that states with “citizen legislatures”—part-time legislators, low salaries, short sessions, and small legislative staffs—enjoy more economic and individual liberty.”

Certainly, that is the case in Utah. Despite the occasional bill that attracts ridicule or seems ill-conceived, Utahns are well-served by the men and women who relinquish 45 days of their lives each year, not counting monthly interim meetings and other obligations, to serve their fellow citizens.

The 2014 legislative session begins Monday. Many issues will vie for attention in the coming weeks. The Deseret News has chosen five we feel are of particular importance and concern.

Few issues weigh as heavily on the minds (and lungs) of Northern Utah residents this time of year than the quality of the stagnant air during temperature inversions. More than a dozen bills addressing the subject already have been proposed.

Some punitive measures may be appropriate, but generally these have proven ineffective. For instance, a strict ban on wood-burning stoves during inversions makes sense, but the state lacks the resources to adequately enforce it. Emission controls on businesses and industries, including rules on how fast food restaurants emit smoke from their kitchens, can be more effective but can harm profitability.

We support efforts that use market incentives to reduce emissions. Offsets or credits offer one solution to industrial pollution. Companies could be given limits on emissions, along with the flexibility to meet those requirements however they see fit.

As automobiles are the leading cause of harmful pollution along the Wasatch Front, the state should impose variable tolls on major highways, with the cost of those tolls increasing as air quality deteriorates or as traffic levels increase. This would give people real incentives to plan trips wisely or to seek alternatives. In addition, companies could be given incentives for implementing technology that allows employees to work from home.

This would not be the first session in which Utah lawmakers wrestle with proposed changes to laws governing the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages. The subject tends to come up under the guise of helping economic development or improving the state’s image. This year, bills may emerge challenging the partitions establishments must erect between customers and preparers, nicknamed the “Zion curtain” by detractors.

As we have frequently noted, Utah’s laws do an excellent job of keeping alcohol abuse in check, relative to other states. The state’s reasonable restrictions allow social drinkers to obtain a beverage while discouraging over-consumption and drunken driving. Any proposed changes would be solutions in search of a problem.

Utah students continue to perform at about the middle of the pack nationally in standardized tests. Some see this as a victory, given the state’s low level of per pupil funding. But funding has been shown to have little relation to education outcomes worldwide, and Utah could do better.